Children increasingly detained in mental health hospitals for months on end, report finds

Children’s Commissioner for England warns youngsters with autism and learning disabilities being ‘let down’

‘For many of them this is a frightening and overwhelming experience,’ says Anne Longfield (Getty)

There has been a surge in children being detained in mental health hospitals for months on end, according to a damning report that warns that the current system of support for those with learning disability or autism is letting children down.

The Children’s Commissioner for England said too many children were being admitted to hospital unnecessarily and spending months and years of their childhood in institutions when they do not need to be there.

Figures published by Anne Longfield and her team show the number of children with a learning disability or autism identified in a mental health hospital in England more than doubled in two years, to 250 youngsters in February 2019.

NHS England state that a figure of 110 children detained in March 2015 was due to under-identification, and that the true figure for children with autism and learning disability in inpatient care in 2017 was 260.

But the report states: “Even with the adjusted figures, the number of children in hospital has not reduced. It is very concerning that the NHS has failed to record accurately the number of children in long-term inpatient care, their conditions and their outcomes.”

The findings also show that on average, children with autism or a learning disability had spent six months (184 days) living in their current hospital, and eight months (240 days) in inpatient care in total.

Ninety-five children were staying in a ward known to be more than 50 km (31 miles) from home, according to the findings.

Ms Longfield said she found ”shocking evidence of poor and restrictive practices“ and heard from children about how traumatic a stay in a mental health hospital can be.

“There are around 250 children with a learning disability or autism in England living in children’s mental health wards. They are some of the most vulnerable children of all, with very complex needs, growing up in institutions usually far away from their family home,” she said.

“For many of them this is a frightening and overwhelming experience. For many of their families it is a nightmare.”

The commissioner called for a “national strategy” to address the values and culture of the wider system across the NHS, education and local government so that a failure to provide earlier help is deemed “unacceptable” and admission to hospital or a residential special school is no longer seen as “almost inevitable” for some children.

“There has been report after report and promise after promise to address this issue and yet the number of children in hospital remains stubbornly high,” she added.

“Hospital admission must be in a child’s best interest and as part of a managed process, with clear timescales and a focus on keeping the length of stay as short as possible. This is clearly not happening at the moment and instead we have a system which is letting these children down.”

A government spokesperson said: “Autistic children and children with learning disabilities must receive high quality, safe and compassionate care. We are determined to reduce the number of autistic people or people with learning disabilities in mental health hospitals – significant investment in community support has already led to a 22 per cent reduction since March 2015.

“The NHS is committed to reducing numbers of people with a learning disability and autistic people who are inpatients in mental health hospitals by 35 per cent by the end of March 2020 and through the Long Term Plan we will reduce numbers even further by investing in specialist services and community crisis care and giving local areas greater control of their budgets to reduce avoidable admissions and enable shorter lengths of stay.”